CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Murray State Racers (17-11, 11-7 OVC) won when it mattered, avenging their two regular season losses to the UTM Skyhawks (15-17).
 
The Racers swept the Skyhawks, 25-21, 31-29, 26-24 in the opening round of the OVC tournament on Thursday afternoon at Houck Fieldhouse in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
 
Murray State showed real toughness, falling behind 8-2 in the second set and 6-0 in the third set to start each set but stayed resilient, fighting their way back in to each game.
 
Facing set point in set three, the Racers rattled off four points in a row to comeback and complete the sweep of the Skyhawks to advance to the semifinal game against #1 seed Southeast Missouri.
 
Murray State was also very efficient as a team, finishing with 54 kills and only 13 errors for their highest efficiency of the season, .325.
 
In her first tournament game, Brooke Lynn Watts showed why she was named the OVC Freshman of the Year, putting down a match-high 23 kills on a blistering .378 attacking clip and added seven digs.
 
Redshirt senior Kolby McClelland continued her hot streak, matching her season-high 14 kills on a .357 hitting % and one solo block, one block assist and one ace.
 
The three-time OVC Defensive Player of the Year, Becca Fernandez, opened her final OVC Tournament collecting 23 digs while setter Bailey DeMier dished out 46 assists in the three sets.

Haeleigh Paulino had quite a match today for UT Martin, posting her 16th double-double of the season (21 assists, 10 digs) to go along with six service aces. Her serving performance came one ace shy of the program's all-time record for a three-set match (seven by Joanne Jerrick against Tennessee State on Sept. 26, 1992).

Offensively, Logan Wallick unreeled a team-best 14 kills on a .429 hitting percentage while Karen Scanlon added 12 kills on a .357 attack percentage. Addy Vaughn distributed 13 assists as the Skyhawk offense hit .227 as a team.